New Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions

Attorney General Mark Speakman today announced the appointment of Peter McGrath SC as a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions for NSW.

"Mr McGrath is highly qualified for the role, having been an effective and respected counsel in jury trials in the District and Supreme Courts for more than a quarter of a century," Mr Speakman said.

"He has appeared as defence counsel and as crown prosecutor in complex trials and sentencing hearings involving some of the most serious criminal offences, including murder, child sexual assault, and large scale drug manufacturing and supply."

Over the past 14 months, Mr McGrath has served as a Deputy Senior Public Defender for NSW. Prior to that, he worked for six years as a crown prosecutor for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2014.

Mr McGrath also has a decade of experience as a barrister in private practice, working primarily in criminal law and has appeared as counsel assisting various coronial inquests and Police Integrity Commission hearings.

He was junior counsel for the NSW Police Force during the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption and for Corrective Services NSW in the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into prison informers. From 1984 to 1990, Mr McGrath worked for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr McGrath holds Bachelors Degrees in Laws and Arts from the University of Sydney.

He will commence as Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions on 3 April 2018. The role includes appearing as counsel in the High Court, Court of Criminal Appeal, Supreme Court and District Court, directing crown prosecutors, office lawyers and private counsel on DPP prosecution matters, and assisting with the management of criminal prosecutions in NSW.